Natasha Lomas
Senior Reporter
The Latest from Natasha Lomas
Researchers show Facebook’s ad tools can target a single user
A new research paper written by a team of academics and computer scientists from Spain and Austria has demonstrated that it’s possible to use Facebook’s targeting tools to deliver an ad ex
Wisdom is a social audio app for opening access to mentorship
U.K. social audio startup Wisdom has launched a new mentorship marketplace that’s described as a mix between Clubhouse and the celebrity-focused courses platform MasterClass. The app lets users
Berlin’s Mayd bags $15M seed to deliver meds fast
Berlin-based Mayd has spied an opportunity to build out a medicine delivery platform in Europe which partners with the small-scale pharmacies that tend to be the norm on the continent, capitalizing on
Ireland’s draft GDPR decision against Facebook branded a joke
Facebook’s lead data protection regulator in the European Union is inching toward making its first decision on a complaint against Facebook itself. And it looks like it’s a doozy. Privacy
UK startup blasts gov’t plan to downgrade data protection
The U.K. government’s post-Brexit appetite to “reform” domestic privacy rules by reducing the level of protections wrapping people’s data is already having wider ramifications
Ex-minister predicts ‘huge battleground’ over UK’s plan to set internet content rules
The former U.K. minster of state for what is now the digital and culture department, DCMS, has warned of the looming battle in parliament over the exact shape of incoming online safety legislation. In
Tech giants’ slowing progress on hate speech removals underscores need for law, says EC
Tech giants have gotten worse at removing illegal hate speech from their platforms under a voluntary arrangement in the European Union, according to the Commission’s latest assessment. The sixth
Cord gets $17.5M to get more devs plugged into its API for real-time collaboration
Cord, a startup that offers a single API to add Slack-like collaboration features to any app, has bagged $17.5 million in Series A funding. The round — which is pegged to fund product developmen
Google rivals call on EU to set rules for search engine preference menus
Four search engine rivals to Google have called on European Union lawmakers to address the tech giant’s continued dominance of the market by setting rules for search engine preference menus, arg
UK publishes safety-focused rules for video-sharing platforms like TikTok
Video-sharing platforms that offer a service in the U.K. have to comply with new regulations intended to protect users and under-18s from harmful content such as hate speech and videos/ads likely to i
Cabify bolts on grocery deliveries in Spain with Lola Market tie-up
Spanish ride-hailing unicorn Cabify is getting into grocery deliveries as it looks to add another string to its multimodal mobility and urban utility bow. It announced the addition of a “Super&#
European Parliament backs ban on remote biometric surveillance
The European Parliament has voted to back a total ban on biometric mass surveillance. AI-powered remote surveillance technologies such as facial recognition have huge implications for fundamental righ
Uber faces legal action over ‘racially discriminatory’ facial recognition ID checks
Ride-hailing giant Uber is facing a legal challenge over its use of real-time facial recognition technology in a driver and courier identity check system that it uses in the U.K. The App Drivers &
Habitual is using digital support plus food replacement to help reverse type 2 diabetes
London-based Habitual, a health tech startup which offers a weight loss program aimed at people with type 2 diabetes (or prediabetes) that combines “evidence-based” food replacement with d
Leak shows Facebook’s business model needs regulating, says MEP
The European Parliament’s lead and shadow rapporteur for a major reboot of the bloc’s digital rulebook have called for an investigation following the Facebook whistleblower leaks. One of t
Made of Air, a maker of ‘carbon negative’ thermoplastics, locks in $5.8M
Berlin-based climate tech startup Made of Air has closed a €5 million (~$5.8 million) seed funding round, led by Norwegian sustainability-focused family fund, TD Veen. Also participating are Patrick
Clubhouse, Vimeo, DoubleVerify and others set to sign up to beefed-up disinformation code in the EU
Audio social network Clubhouse, video sharing platform Vimeo and anti-ad fraud startup DoubleVerify are among a clutch of tech companies and organzations preparing to sign up to a beefed-up version of
SquadPal is a social app to help remote working teams gel
The future of office work, post-COVID-19, is driving plenty of startup activity. Not just around core business needs like comms (Zoom, Slack et al.) — but entrepreneurs are also competing to com
UK class action-style suit filed over DeepMind NHS health data scandal
A U.K. law firm is bringing a class-action style claim over a patient health data scandal that dates back to 2015 and involves the Google-owned AI company DeepMind, after it was quietly passed medical
Fairphone adds a 5G smartphone, touting software support until at least 2025
Dutch social enterprise Fairphone has announced its first 5G smartphone, the Fairphone 4. The “greentech” mobile maker differentiates from almost the entire smartphone industry through a p